Lacing.



No. 764,874. PATENTED JULY 12, 1904. H. WHITE.

LAGING.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-12. 1903.

NO MODEL.

anvewfoaa Q1 I l W I fltmm UNITED STATES Patented July 12, 1904.

PATENT OEEicE.

HUGH WVHITE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WVALTER SCOTT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LACING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,874, dated July 12, 1904.

Application filed October 12, 1903. Serial No. 176,732. (No model.)

invented new and useful Improvements in Lac-- ings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention pertains to lacings, more particularly lacings for fastening shoes; and it has for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive stiif-end lacing well calculated to withstand the usage to which such articles are ordinarily subjected.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description and claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which' Figure l is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, illustrating one end portion of the lace constituting the preferred embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 is a broken view, on a reduced scale, illustrating the lace as a whole. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective View of one of the stiifeners removed. Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken in the plane indicated by the line 4 I of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a view illustrating a modification.

Referring by letter to said drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4: thereof, A is a lacing of tubular form woven or otherwise made of material suitable to the purpose and open at its ends, and B B are stiffener-s inserted and secured in the end portions of the lacing with a view of adapting said end portions to be readily passed through the eyelets of shoes or other articles to be fastened.

' In the present and preferred embodiment of my invention the stifi'eners are formed of serrated or otherwise roughened pieces of wire of rectangular or other suitable form in transverse section, and they are inserted in the ends of the tubular lacing, together with glue or other adhesive, (indicated by C,) and secured in said ends by subjecting the same to pressure until the glue or other adhesive employed is set.

It will be readily appreciated that the stiffeners may be very quickly and easily secured in the ends of the lacing in the manner described, and consequently do not add materially to the cost of manufacturing the article as a whole; also, that because of their roughness the stifi'eners are not liable to work out of the lacing when the same is subjected to ordinary usage. From this latter it follows that the stiffeners will render the ends of the lacing stiff as long as the lacing lasts and will at the same time prevent fraying of the ends of the lacing, and thereby materially prolong the usefulness of the same.

I have entered into a detailed description of the lacing constituting the preferred embodiment of my invention in order to impart a full, clear, and exact understanding of the same. I do not desire, however, to be understood as confining myself to such specific lacing, as such changes or modifications may be made in practice as fairly fall Within the scope of my invention as claimed. For instance, in lieu of securing the stiffener in a lacing of tubular form-d. 6., a lacing woven in tubular form and, by preference, pressed fiatI may, without involving departure from the scope of my invention, secure the stifiener in the end portion of a fiat lacing A of single thickness, as shown in Fig. 5.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. The combination with a lacing; of a stiffener having a roughened surface, and adhesive substance, secured in one end of the lacing.

2. The combination with a lacing of tubular form, open at one end; of a stiffener having a roughened surface,'and adhesive substance, inserted and secured by pressure in said end of the lacing.

3. The combination with a lacing; of a stiffener, formed of a piece of roughened wire, and adhesive substance, secured in one end of the lacing.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HUGH WHITE. Witnesses:

OMAR F. SCHMIDT, WALTER SCOTT. 

